Well, today I can say my child is 7 months and a day old. How did we manage it so far? It’s pretty darn hard I would say. There are definitely good days and definitely bad days. Somehow when the bad outweighs the good, when the good comes, the bad is forgotten. Thanks to the mummy brain. I’m more forgetful (or maybe it’s cos I’m not working and thus don’t really need to use my brain) about the little things. But I try. I try really hard.

When Nate was 6 months, he started sleeping through the night. We call it STTN and it’s about 7-8 hours. He would sleep by 8pm and wake up around 4-6am for a feed. We were so elated about it then. We could even play L4D2 when he is in his cot sleeping.

And then….. he went for his vaccination. I remember it clearly. It was the day before Mel & James’ wedding. We thought he would be fine, as with all vaccines before. But boy, were we wrong.

This vaccine was the 6-in-1 and pneumococcal jab. So it was 2 jabs on each thigh. It was a painful ordeal. The previous jabs he only had a slight fever. But this time, he had a fever throughout the night and had difficulty sleeping. Nic and I woke up to give him paracetamol. The first time we opened it since we got it from his first vaccine when he was a month old. He didn’t take to the medicine well. And most was on his romper. We didn’t sleep much so we needed the entire day to recover – both Nic and I.

After that night, he ended up waking for 2-3 feeds per night. After putting him to bed at 8pm, he would wake up about 12mn and then 4-5am for another feed. Poor Nic, he was doing the night feed and sadly, it got worse. The timings became more erratic and sometimes I could hear him cry murder when Nic went to make milk/change his diaper.

Yesterday, we were helping a friend sing for a friend’s wedding. And yet again, Nate decided to test us by giving us a horrid night. We could not not attend this wedding. He woke up at 11pm, 3am and then 6am and about an hour before Nic fed him. Seeing Nic and hearing that he already fed Nate twice, I helped him out in the morning so he could get a bit more sleep.

We managed to get to the church on time. Nate couldn’t or wouldn’t sleep at all. I think this is cos we hardly go out so when we are out, he wants to take in as much as he can. Until he can’t take it anymore, then he will sleep.

After the mass, we had some food and dropped jie and gerard in town before heading back. On the way back, Nate started making noise and then fell asleep. I drove a longer route so that both him and Nic can rest in the car a bit more.

When we got home, Nic took care of Nate while I went to sleep. When I woke up, I didn’t feel so good. I went down to buy lunch and after having lunch, didn’t feel very good. But managed to make some puree for Nate. I tried to sleep but was feeling nauseous. Nic went down to buy dinner and brought Nate with him when I finally fell asleep.

Nic came back and told me he dropped by the massage shop and spoke to the owner about my headache. So I went down and had a shoulder massage to ease it. When I came home, I couldn’t finish dinner. But went ahead to take vitamins. I think it was due to all the water I drank, I finally puked.

I felt a bit better but then before sleeping, I felt I had the urge again but I hate puking and I didn’t want to. So I went to bed. Halfway through the night, I woke up because of Nic’s snoring and he went outside to sleep.

Miraculously, we all slept through till 6am. I woke up several times during the night because of the amount of water I drank. But when I went out at 6am to ask Nic to come back into the room, he said that he didn’t feed Nate all night.

So, we suspect that Nic and Nate were annoying each other and waking each other up. HAHAHAHA. It’s a vicious cycle really. Nic snore, Nate stirs, wakes up and wants to drink milk before going back to sleep and Nic is tired. And the whole process repeats itself. We didn’t have such a good night’s rest in a while. I think this is why today feels like a much better day for us.

We are more patient and less irritable. It’s really difficult taking care of a baby during the night. But somehow we managed to pull through. Well, Nic managed to pull through. And I am so thankful for that.

I hope that this solves one of the problems we have been having so far because we know that Nate can sleep through the night.

It was a pretty intense end of year for us as a choir. We were participating in a few events and caroling sessions to spread the joy of christmas cheer!

Picture taken on 25th November where we combined with Risen Christ Youth Symphony Orchestra to raise funds for the Assisi Hospice. It was quite fun and we sang 4 songs together with them..

This was at the Singapore Cricket Club. We did one session for them on Christmas Eve. Last year we only had to sing for Christmas Day mass.. Also, the day before, we were caroling at Sentosa, 2 sessions..

Then on Christmas Eve night, we performed 2 sets at Goodwood Park Hotel..

I would have to say that as a pregnant lady in her 3rd trimester and having to sing/dance/do a solo.. I think it really took a toll on my body..

Moreover, I had very bad rashes due to the pregnancy and the following day, we had to sing for Christmas Day mass..

Nick and I gave that a miss in the end because I was so burnt out by all the caroling and singing.. It wasn’t the best time.. I slept in and we went for Christmas Day Mass at SMOTA instead..

Although it wasn’t the best ending to the year, I did enjoy myself doing what I love most – Singing.

Well, it’s been 2 weeks since Nathanael came.. Maybe I should share what the birth experience was like… Also, backlogging my posts because I didn’t have the energy/feels to do it when I was in my third trimester.

So let me recap what happened…..

Nathanael was supposed to be due on 22nd Feb (2 days ago actually). Since our 36th week of pregnancy, we were told to come back weekly for check up with the gynae.. On our 37th week check up, I mentioned to the doctor that Nathanael was moving less in my tummy, although he still moves, it wasn’t as active as before. He took an ultrasound and deemed that everything was ok, his development was fine, the amniotic fluid was fine.

However, on our 38th week, I told him that he still isn’t as active as before and when he scanned, he noticed that the amniotic fluid was low and told us that we had to induce labour for the baby to come out..

The reason is this: Amniotic fluid in the womb is actually the baby’s pee. If the fluid is low, it means that the baby isn’t peeing enough which in turn suggests that the placenta is no longer efficient in providing the baby nutrients to grow..

As he is already 38 weeks along and fully developed by then, the doctor told us that the baby can come out already the next day.. We definitely weren’t ready for that! It was only the beginning of Feb when we found out..

So that day, when my husband went back to work, I went home and got ready most of the baby things.. Thank God we packed the hospital bag when we hit the final trimester and got everything that the baby needed before he came..

I put the mattress cover over the mattress, anticipating to do it that weekend instead.. Checked and double checked that we had everything.. Mum came in the evening and Nick came home early from work.. We did our last minute packing and then we went to mum’s place for dinner and rested until it was time to check into the hospital..

Our gynae kept emphasizing to check in after 12mn as any earlier would have additional charges and it would be considered a day’s stay. So after mn, we checked into the delivery suite and there, we waited..

I was dilated at 2cm which did not seem to be opening at all. So at 1am, a nurse inserted a pill into the vagina and we rested.. However, when my doctor came in the morning, he asked why I looked so comfortable.. Apparently, the pill didn’t work.. So he manually burst my water bag at 7am.. I was quite sad because I thought he could come out early and it was definitely a waiting game at this point in time..

There was another couple who checked in about the same time as us and they were out of the delivery suite by morning.. So imagine how sad I was that I had to spend MORE time in the delivery suite..

After the water bag burst, I still didn’t want an epidural but I wasn’t ready for how bad the contractions were to come. I thought using the laughing gas would suffice but it wasn’t.. I felt like I was inhaling plastic and gave up after a while.. Our gynae came before lunch time to check up on us but I was only dilated 3-4cm.. I couldn’t take the pain anymore so I requested for an epidural..

I was scared when the epidural was inserted and moved quite a bit but the anesthetist was super skilled and he put it in with no problem.. and thankfully the nurse was there and I held her hand because the contractions were painful and I was scared..

Right after the epidural was inserted, the pain was gone.. I relaxed much easier and even managed to sleep for a while.. Then, it was lunch time, so I told Nick to go and have his lunch and then come back and hopefully the baby will be out..

Just when he left, I felt the contractions coming in strong again.. I thought the epidural isn’t working.. I called for a nurse and she upped the amount of epidural.. I could feel like I needed to pass motion and needed to push.. She checked my dilation and I was up to 9cm.. FINALLY!! Just 1cm more to go then the baby can come out.. At that time, Nick was still having lunch and the nurse started prepping for the arrival of the little one.. I was getting excited.. like finally, we can leave this cold place!

When Nick came back, he thought I had given birth but I told him I can give birth already.. LOL.. We waited for the doctor to arrive.. Before he arrived, 2 nurses came in and asked me to push so that the baby’s head would be 10% out by the time our gynae arrived..

I pushed a few times and she said very good!! can see the head!! nick went to see and he was like OMG I CAN SEE HIS HEAD! hahaha.. he has hair!! it was quite funny.. and then on another push, they told me to stop and just rest.. And they said the baby was sliding out by himself.. I thought he was sliding back in..

Anyway, our gynae finally arrived and I gave 1.5 pushes and Nathanael was out! After that everything happened so fast.. Nick cut the umbilical cord and then oversaw the baby when the nurse was checking him and our gynae was stitching me up and removing the placenta..

We requested for some skin contact time and it was nice 🙂 I actually look refreshed in the pictures because I didn’t have to push so much.. The pushing and delivering of the baby only took 15-20mins? But the labour part to dilate took WAAAAYYYY much longer.. 14hrs to be exact.. It was a super long labour.. But I’m glad we didn’t have to do an emergency c-sect..

Then, we were pushed to our single-bedded ward which was super nice at St Raphael Ward in Mount Alvernia Hospital. It was one of the older wards as there was a new St Michael Ward but we were happy with it anyways..

The next few days were a huge blur as so many people came and visited us at the hospital and then we were discharged from the hospital 2 days later..

We found Bake Cheese Tart at Ikebukuro station. Please note that the major train stations are super huge underground so it’s not as easy to find stuff as you think. They have MANY exits.. like north, south, east and west and these are all at other ends of the train station. SERIOUS!

Short queue for bake,

Yays! but i think the one in sapporo was much better as this bake is actually… dry. :S and we kept the cheese tart in sapporo for 2 days i think. and it still tasted great. HAHA.

Nick took this picture from Starbucks, showing the Shibuya crossing. I spotted a couple going back and forth when the lights changed so that the girl can take OOTDs and stuff. quite funny.

When Ghibli studio is closed, why not visit the Totoro Cafe? However, it’s quite out of the way to the west side of Japan..

Such a cute sign outside the shop.

Cookies we bought back for a Totoro fan friend. lol.

This is the Totoro Bakery on the first floor. There is another cafe upstairs that sells mains and allows us to eat the cream puff upstairs..

SO CUTE! there were several flavours.. the custard cream was my fav!

This chestnut cream was seasonal so we tried it too but it wasn’t to my liking..

feeling so excited to eat it.. HAHAHA.. savage..

We went to Disneyland as well!

i love carousels 🙂

It was quite a nice day but super crowded and we went out of a ride because it started to slow down and I was getting hungry.. lol..

We stayed over one night to see Mt Fuji at Lake Kawaguchiko and to experience an onsen!! Nick booked Fuji Yumedono Onsen where they provided pick up service and drop off to and from the train station. The place was LOVELY!!! It was a typical Japanese living area. With tatami and slippers and all!

Clogs to go out to our “mini” garden. Which wasn’t mini at all imo. lol!

Our outdoor private onsen 🙂

They provided us with kimonos as well 🙂

Unfortunately, the next day we couldn’t see Mt Fuji. This is the live cam facing the mountain. There’s nothing to see because it was raining. lol.

We also went to DisneySea when we came back to Tokyo but stayed at Shin-Urayasu instead which is closer to the airport and disneysea. Unfortunately, it was raining as well and was a bit cold. The queues were crazy long to get into Disneysea so we went to Ikspairi shopping mall at Maihama station and stayed there till the rain lightened..

Sat another carousel here this time was Aladdin themed. Was holding the camel’s ears as the metal bar was quite smelly. lol..

So that’s all for our Japan honey/babymoon. It was quite fun despite feeling tired all the time. We could have packed less because we did laundry lots of times there. and i kept re-wearing my clothes because I couldn’t fit into some 😦

We went to Harajuku on a Sunday and it was PACKED. It’s like a narrow street with shops on either side and there were so many people going up and down there on a Sunday.

We managed to find Angels Heart Crepe which was quite famous according to Youtubers online. hahaha..

As we were pretty full still, we didn’t mind waiting in line. We actually queued for about 30mins!

Their flavours are ranked according to popularity. We bought the no 1 banana chocolate whipped cream crepe.. it was quite good!

Our crepe with the sign. LOL.

We went to a tea house to see if we could have an authentic japanese tea tasting. Unfortunately, we had to wait an hour. So we just had the tea tasting experience at the counter. However, I couldn’t appreciate the teas. Not sure if it’s cos of my keen smell but one tasted like pee to me 😦

Nick wanted to show how long the stair way is to the subway. We climbed up to get to the tea place. And now we’re going back down. I didn’t know Japan had so many stairs. Not many escalators and definitely very few elavators.

This is Hachiko. The shiba inu dog who waited at the train station for his master despite the master dying and left him behind. He waited at the train station for him everyday until his own death.

Shibuya is a shopping district and I bought new shoes from Onitsuka Tiger. This has more support than the street shoes.. Quite happy with the purchase 🙂

We saw this at the main West entrance of Ikebukuro station. Apparently Fukurou means Owl, thus the owl display..

We headed to Tsukiji market as well because we had a free day due to Ghibli studio not being open for the week that we’re there.

This is the restaurant we tried.

The maki is naise! and so were the sushi although I didn’t eat too much. The salmon sashimi tastes similar to what Singapore serves. But it was definitely fun! At least we didn’t queue from the morning like 5am. I’ve heard that there are long queues for the good places. But I think all of them are good? or at least should be good?

Nick says Tsukiji Market has changed a lot. There are shops lining the streets and not very much footspace but we made out ok.

We didn’t expect to see so many animal cafes when we were in Tokyo. And we went to 2 on the same day! We actually wanted to go to the Cat Cafe in Ikebukuro but the one we found had a private event until 1pm. So we walked around the area and found another cat cafe. We didn’t stay for long because the cats were…… I wouldn’t say unfriendly but the place was big and there were quite a lot of people. So I think they got fondled a lot and didn’t like it?

Cats avoiding humans. lol.

An image to show how to read cats so that you won’t agitate them and end up hurting yourself and vice versa.

The nua-est cat around. Didn’t like human beings though. HAHA.

This cat on the other hand, was very friendly 🙂

Next, while checking out the area, we stumbled upon Mimi Cafe – a rabbit petting place!

We were given treats to feed the rabbits.

Trying to distract the rabbit to look at the camera. LOL. This place was nice and cosy. They gave us plastic skirts and aprons to wear as rabbits just went wherever they are.

After finishing all the treats we had, they decided they didn’t love us anymore. LOL!

They put us in another place with more rabbits and the rabbits enjoyed nua-ing by themselves. super cute and fluffy!!!!

On another day, we headed to Akihabara and went to an owl cafe called Akiba Fukurou. You had to make reservations to play with the owls for an hour and they give you a picture to commemorate your visit to the place.

This was our timing that was fully booked!

Perched owls. Those with pink circles on top of the green ones, which were the descriptions, meant that these owls are not to be touched as they were sleeping.

HUGE owls that we didn’t pat at all.

Found sweet potato and carried him 🙂

He’s really a small owl!!!

Up close..

This is another owl that was medium sized.. I didn’t try carrying the larger owls cos you had to wear a special glove. and most of the owls didn’t really like being handled.. especially the barn owls..

We took a trip to Japan for our “honeymoon” but now known as “babymoon” for 16 days. Well, we booked the trip before planning to get pregnant so….. but I’m glad I survived all the walking and what nots in Japan. HAHAHA.

We saw this Star Wars themed plane at Narita airport during our transit to Hokkaido, Sapporo.

See the cloud horizon, it’s really damn pretty.

Finally landed in New Chitose Airport in Sapporo and had MosBurger because it was lunch time! And we had time to kill before our train ride to Shintoku. One thing about Japan is how timely their trains are. Especially those long rides.

Our first stay was at Yorkshire Farm. The kind farm owner drove out to Tomamu Station to pick us up because the typhoon caused some damage to the roads and the train service was stopped.

They had a fire place at the dining area.

We stayed at a sheep farm and the air was super fresh and clean. The sheep were also very close to us proximity wise..

We could bottle-feed the lambs. However the owner told us that the bottle-feeding is only for the guests because the lambs can sustain on their own with grass by 6 months. The sheep also get their water from eating the grass. So basically, there’s not much overheads for keeping sheep on a farm.

The sheep are damn cute, but damn dirty..

Stampede of sheep!

After the sheep feeding, we went horse-back riding 🙂 however, it was at another farm called Village432 and it was 2km away from the sheep farm we were at. There was no taxi available to bring us there so we had to walk from our farm stay to the other place. We walked on the side of the road because of the lack of proper footpaths. Once we got there, we had to go up a hill before reaching the farm. o.m.g. it was a treacherous walk. lol.

My horse and I after the hour trot.. It was quite fun!!!

After which, we had lunch at the farm because we were starving but then forgot about the Soba shop at the bottom of the hill. So after resting for a bit, we walked back down and went to the Soba shop.

Soba ice cream with soba star biscuits and the kind lady gave us soba tea as well. It was really yummy!

We also had their cold noodles to eat. We shared cos we were super full by then.. haha.. and then we walked back to our farm stay..

The next morning, we left the farm stay and the kind owner once again drove us to the train station, stopping to let us buy some bentos at 7-11 as it was about lunch time.

In the train. Thank God that the seats were not fully occupied as our luggage were too big to go inbetween the seats. So we sat at the back where we could put then unobstructed near the door.

We went to Otaru and stayed one night after having visited the music box museum and trying out their LeTao cheesecake (which wasn’t as fantastic as we thought). The following day, we headed back to Sapporo and checked into Toyoko Inn near the Sapporo station.

After dropping off our luggage at the hotel because it wasn’t time to check in yet, we went to the Sapporo Ramen Alley near Susukino Station and shared a ramen before walking to Odori Park for the Sapporo Autumn Festival where we ate and tried some food from the vendors.

Apparently, Odori station is connected to Sapporo station (one stop away) underground and we walked back to Sapporo station. However, we got lost like a lot of times and only managed to figure our way out when we were about to check out. Lol.

The next day, we went to see the Shiroi Koibito (white lovers) Chocolate Factory.

Inside the factory. This is their process. Baking the cookies….

Making sure the cookies and chocolate are placed rightly before moving on….

To packing and sealing the individually-wrapped biscuits. It was a very interesting experience. We got to try to bake their cookie and place the white chocolate into the cookies and we got to decorate them, seal them and put it in the box..

If you want to do that, should reserve your places first as there are many people who sign up for it. We hung around Shiroi Koibito for a while before heading back to eat dinner and chill.

On Hari Raya Haji, mum, nick and I took snowie to the Botanic Gardens on a whim. Mum says she misses me and since she didn’t see us on Saturday (which was not our fault btw), she came to pick us up before heading to the gardens.

We had lunch at Cafe Verde because that’s the only place in Botanic Gardens that allows dogs when sitting outside. Lunch took a while because the kitchen was overwhelmed. Since like everyone went there for lunch with their pets.

Lucky it started raining while we were still sitting at the cafe. Mum had to shift for a while but at least we had shelter 🙂

After the rain stopped, we started our walk!

had to wear the patch because a garden definitely has lots of mozzies.

We came across some insects and here’s a dragonfly!

Then, we saw someone feeding a squirrel. I feel like their tail is the wire brush. hahahaha!

After walking for about an hour, our little furry friend’s underside was super wet and dirty because she actually likes walking through puddles and grass and kept sniffing at the lamp posts.

She always tries to avoid other dogs. So when a couple of poodles wanted to approach her, someone else with 2 poms went to make friends with the poodles, and she just walked a larger circle to avoid contact. My funny dog. hahahaha.

Here is the not so little pooch fluffed out after the walk. Her face is just one of tiredness. HAHAHA!

That’s why I was super sick for 3 consecutive weeks. I was feeling super horrible. I didn’t want to wake up at all. The first week was flu, the second week was diarrhea and the last week was some ailment I can’t remember. It was just a horrible period because I just didn’t feel like doing anything. I just started a new part-time job but I didn’t think it was because of that that I was being stressed or falling ill. Also, I bought salted egg fish skin wanting to eat it but was ill and every time I was well and bought them again, I fell sick. I thought the fish skin was the cause of it. HAHA. When I didn’t eat it at all 😦

Then, my taste buds starting changing. Foods that I like made me go ewww.. Like broccoli 😦 sigh. even eating was challenging. As I was home most of the time (by myself), I didn’t even feel like going out of the house to buy lunch for myself. It was a “trying” time. Especially when I didn’t really know what was going on. Just wondering why I felt like this and more emotional all the time.

I had a check up at the polyclinic for my thyroid, so a week before that, I went to do my blood test where I picked up a pregnancy test. Well, my period was already 3 weeks late but I felt my boobs getting sore so I thought (and hoped) my period was coming. But no such thing. Anyway, the pee test indicated that I was indeed pregnant. The following week when I went to see the Doc at the polyclinic, my husband followed me and thankfully we managed to get an impromptu appointment with the gynae! The polyclinic doc wouldn’t be monitoring me and I should probably see a thyroid specialist during this period.

So that day was pretty exciting. We went to Marsiling to see the gynae but actually he’s situated at Mount Alvernia Hospital. That’s where we’re planning to deliver the child at. It was an interesting appointment because he did a scan and actually it was just a small dot as I was only 6 weeks plus along. I was given supplements to take to strengthen my uterus as well as folic acid for the development of the baby.

We went to see the gynae 2 weeks after that when the baby was a bit more developed and it was 2cm big! More supplements like fish oil, pre natal vitamins and calcium tablets. Our gynae also recommended an endocrinologist in the same hospital so it will be more convenient for us during our visits then we can visit both at the same time. We spent about close to a day at the thyroid doctor’s office because we took a blood test and had to wait for the results so he could prescribe a decent dosage for me to take to help during the pregnancy.

After that, we went back to see both doctors at 12 weeks. And thankfully, the first trimester is OVER! I was super waiting for the period to be over because all I wanted to do at home was sleep and eat. In the mornings, I can eat as late as 10am but I would need lunch at about 12 noon unless I was sleeping. And that was during the time I was staying with mum so it was definitely much easier with Agnes being able to cook for me 🙂

However, after lunch, in the afternoon, I needed to eat several times. Probably like once every hour or 2 hours? If not I would feel super duper uncomfortable. But at least I know I can only eat small meals more frequently. We’ve started adding some salad and soups to our diet when we go out for dinner because I feel like I’m not getting enough greens. And cooked vegetables usually taste horrible to me. Like very bitter. And mushrooms make me very uncomfortable 😦 and made me not like the taste.

Currently, I just found out that the burning sensation at the bottom of my throat is actually heartburn. Which is caused by acid reflux. From what I read online, it was because of some hormone that relaxes my muscles and causes back flow. SIGH. I have to avoid spicy food (no more calbee hot & spicy for me :(), fizzy drinks (fanta orange!!!) and citrus juices (goodbye minute maid). On a side note, when I was at mum’s place, we bought 4x 1L minute maid orange juice cos they were on sale. And according to the husband, is healthier than fanta orange. HOWEVER, there is a lot of sugar that goes into it. HAHAHA. And I can’t drink a lot of liquids during dinner, if not it will aggravate it. So for now, sips of water for me, really more often because I usually gulp water down and feel super uncomfortable after that. BUT! The shioks feeling of gulping water down because it’s so satisfying….. Sigh. Ok, I’ll stop being dramatic but really, I think my lifestyle has changed quite a bit.

I think it has been heartburn that has been making me feel really uncomfortable. I thought it was like nauseousness or what not. But I’m really grateful I’m not puking my guts out because of morning sickness. Because then… that would be sick.. I know I should count my blessings but sometimes it’s just so frustrating to feel the way I feel. And I get car sick now. Ok, sometimes. Maybe I shall try eradicating the heartburn and see how much better I feel because I actually feel tonnes better now 🙂

Sorry for the super duper long post. I know how some mummies make it seem as though pregnancy is a breeze, but I guess no one really laments on how difficult it is to have a little baby growing inside you. It’s really difficult. Perhaps that’s how ladies have antenatal (prenatal) depression. I understand post natal depression because it’s probably quite stressful taking care of a baby by yourself if you’re the only one doing it. I just hope and pray our baby will grow to be strong and healthy. 🙂